Author: Tiffany Poirier

Hello, 5B families!

Congratulations to all of our hardworking TRACK PARTICIPANTS! We heard you represented our school so well, gave it your best efforts, and had fun!

For the next two weeks, we have lots of important projects, writing assignments, and year-end Math and LA assessments on the go, and so we are taking a pause this week from Spelling tests to focus our energy.

Students are working to finish the following: “Time Traveller’s Reports” in Social Studies (due May 30), Simple Machines projects in Science (due June 10), two perspective stories (due now), group parables presentations in Religion/Drama (due by June 15), and personal interest projects (due by the last day of school, but I will do weekly progress check-ins starting now, and students will be expected to share their progress with classmates on June 11).

In Math class, we have wrapped up our probability unit and are now learning about money! We have been reinforcing adding and subtracting with decimals by doing various money calculations. As well, for enrichment, some students have been keen to learn how to calculate sales tax. Using a fake money set, students have been practicing adding up coin and bills and making change. Great mental math! Today students were challenged to create their own toy stores, and then create a series of word money problems related to the stores. Students have also been doing one-to-one “money meetings” with me where they play the banker and perform calculations. Please keep practicing this real-life skill at home.

Please note that this Thursday is our grade 5 “Parliamentary Tour” field trip. We leave the school at lunch time and return by 2:55pm. There were no parent volunteers needed for this trip since we have 4 St. Patrick’s staff attending, and less than 40 people permitted on the tour as per the tour capacity rules. Please note the parliament’s posted behaviour expectations.

Behavioural Expectation Reminder
BC’s Parliament Buildings are working buildings and visitors are expected to talk quietly, behave in a calm and courteous manner and follow public health policy during their visit.”

-BC Parliamentary Tours Guidelines.

POISON HEMLOCK INFORMATION:

CRD information sheet: https://www.crd.bc.ca/docs/default-source/es-watersheds-pdf/invasive-species/poison_hemlock__factsheet_v5.pdf?sfvrsn=5fc1afca_6

News Story: https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-island-child-hospitalized-after-eating-poisonous-hemlock-on-school-grounds-1.6795336

Invasive Species HAT: https://hat.bc.ca/blog/poison-hemlock?format=amp

Hello, 5B families!

In Math class, we are learning about probability and also doing review of the major concepts explored this school year.

In Religion class, our inquiry has grown from this question: Why did Jesus use parables to teach, and what can we learn from these parables today? Students are working on reading, researching, retelling, and dramatizing Jesus’s parables and discussing their meanings.

In Science, we are now exploring a unit on simple machines. Students will demonstrate their understanding of this content through discussions, a unit quiz, and a creative project of their choosing. (Project criteria and ideas below!)

In Language Arts, we have exploring perspective and point of view. Students are now working on writing two short stories, each about the same situation but from a different point of view. ***Reminder that we have our spelling test tomorrow. The word list is in the previous blog post.

Dear 5B families,

Wishing you a beautiful Mother’s Day! Here are the gorgeous gifts our grade 5 students created for their moms…

Hello, 5B families!

On Monday we have another fun civvies day: decades! Students who would like to wear civvies should come dressed in clothing that represents a specific decade, such as the 1980s, 1950s, etc.

***Reminder that there is NO SCHOOL on Monday, May 20th and Tuesday, May 21st.

In Math, we have wrapped up our unit on perimeter and area. Students have now brought home their quizzes. I am offering a rewrite next Wednesday. It is important that students keep practicing their multi-digit multiplication skills. We will start our next unit on probability on Monday.

In Religion class, we have been exploring three topics: the parables (especially the prodigal son), the story of Daniel in the lions’ den, and strategies for navagatinf and reading the Bible.

Congratulations to our amazing three public speaking contestants for doing such an outstanding job!

Our next Spelling test is on Thursday, May 16–it will cover part 2 of our list on literary themed words as seen below…

Hello, 5B families!

In Math we have been working on fractions and decimals, and students have now brought home their quizzes. I have offered a rewrite this Friday. We have now started a unit on how to calculate perimeter and area.

Reminder: this Wednesday is early dismissal at 2:00pm.

Please note that this Thursday, May 2nd is a special 3-hour Health Education presentation for grade 5s: the “Home Alone Program”. This short course is about safety and best practices when they are left alone at home.

Friday, May 3rd is our Spelling Test covering the 30 contractions we have been working with this week. We have done extensive in class review of these words.

On Friday afternoon we have the FAST (Friday Afternoon of Sports Training). Students have signed up for either the field trip to play squash or go skating. Squash students should prepare to wear appropriate St. Patrick’s gym strip for squash. Skating folks should also wear St. Patrick’s gym strip, but NO SHORTS (just the St. Patrick’s track pants or jogging pants.). Skating folks should also bring appropriate layers and items for a cold ice rink environment, such as gloves. Students skating are invited to bring their own ice skates and helmets if they prefer, but these will be available to all for free at the rink. Reminder: these FAST sessions will occur on the next few Fridays (May 3, May 10, and May 17).

In the assembly this Monday, we enjoyed a thought-provoking presentation by Ms. Murphy on honouring diversity and specifically how to support neurodiversity. Many students were also acknowledged with athletic achievements and “Fruit of the Spirit” awards. Well done!

In Art, we have been doing 3D nature sculptures—but the details of those will have to remain a surprise on account of a special day coming up! (Wink!)

In Language Arts, students have been further developing their skills when writing dialogue and using quotation marks. Students have been editing and practicing reading aloud their new stories. As well, we returned to core skills we developed this year when writing poetry for our “Earth Day Five Senses Poems”. Students explored the St. Patrick’s school yard and garden, making observations and capturing creative lines of text to paint word pictures about the wonders of nature we can appreciate every day at school.

*Students choosing to participate in our school’s public speaking competition should have a completed speech that is ready to share with our class on Monday, May 6th.

In Science, we completed our unit on rocks and the rock cycle (see the previous posts). Students who wish to improve their standing in this unit must request either a quiz rewrite or a chance to do a special presentation to the class on some topic related to rocks, the rock cycle, or fossils. We have now started a new unit on simple machines.

In Social Studies, we started a unit in government, and students continue to make progress on their “Time Traveller’s Projects”. These presentations are due May 30th but can be presented any time before that date. We have spent time in class with students to reviewing the project expectations on the criteria sheets, exploring questions that can guide their research, teaching where to find credible sources of information online and in our school library, learning to create simple bibliographies, and supporting one another with ideas. At this point, all students have had at least three Chromebook research blocks and should be well on their way. Please check in with your child to see how the project is coming along.

WHAT WOULD A GREAT TIME TRAVELLER PRESENTATION BE LIKE?

I have have modelled for students how they can apply their public speaking and drama skills and creatively use of props and/or costumes to “wow” their audience. As well, I provided students with two examples of successful time traveller scripts (see below), and we talked through actions that would dramatize these scripts in a meaningful way.

Hello, 5B families!

We had a wonderful morning at Swan Lake that started with listening to a barred owl hooting to welcome us! Then we enjoyed a one-hour geology lesson that included acting as “rock detectives” and handling some fascinating fossils. After that, we toured the Nature House galleries and observed the plants and birds while strolling near the lake. We hope you enjoy these photos that will tell the story of our learning today…

Here is an interesting discovery we enjoyed while walking the trails: evidence of beavers at work!

This is the charming rock cycle song we enjoyed today:

And here are some videos that review the new information we learned today about the different types of fossils…

Hello, 5B families!

In Language Arts, students have now brought home their spelling tests, homonym quizzes and their quotation marks quizzes. Please look at your child’s rewritten “dialogue between two characters”. For practice, I asked students to rewrite their dialogues to incorporate the specific feedback I gave them on their quizzes.

Next week, I am offering a rewrite of the “quotation marks and dialogue writing” quiz.

In Social Studies, students have been developing their research skills (note-taking, bibliography writing) during our Time Travellers’ Project work periods. They have been using both print and online resources. I recommend students also visit the public library to find books.

We have been reinforcing students’ skills when using Google Drive. By now, all students should be able to login to their accounts, locate Google Drive, create and rename a new document, and copy and paste content and web addresses using the CONTROL+C and CONTROL+V function. As well, all students should have created a document called “SS Bibliography” and entered at least one of their digital sources.

We are going with a very simple bibliography format. Please see the example below. A minimum of three different sources is expected for this project but 5 is preferred.

In Math, we are enjoying our fractions unit and the photos below show the kinds of questions we are doing. We did a check-in quiz today, and I asked students to bring them home to show you.

In Science, we have started learning about geology and the rock cycle.

In Health Education, we started our “Fully Alive” program. If you would like to see the exact textbook we are using, please send me an email, and I will arrange to loan a copy of the textbook to you. Or, you can come in and look at it in our class. Please let me know if you would like to stop by.

In Art, we just finished up a project that developed students’ techniques with pencil crayons. We focussed on blending, shading, and varying the colour value when making 8-square artworks celebrating the diverse beauty of various animals, birds, insects, reptiles and more.

Hello, 5B families!

It’s wonderful to be back to school and to see all these big kids who all seem to have grown so much in the last few weeks of Spring Break!

Here is what we have been exploring and a preview of what’s to come…

In Math, we have introduced the relationship between decimals and fractions using models.

As well, for optional enrichment, I introduced (for students who chose to join in) the basics of algebra. We talked about how variables are symbols that represent numbers and modelled how to solve one step equations.

Another favourite enrichment challenge students have enjoyed in class is our deck of “geometric riddles”. Here are some sample questions—how amazing that students have been able to work together to find solutions to some of these!

In Science, we have been exploring states of matter.

Coming up on April 25th, we will go to Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary to see the wildflowers and birds and for a workshop on how to identify different types of rocks; this will support our Science units on Geology and Natural Resources. Following that, we will do a short unit combined with ADST learning standards on the topic of simple machines.

In Social Studies, we have been looking at the history of British Columbia and Victoria (check in assessment on that tomorrow), and next week we start a unit on government. We will have a field trip to the BC Parliament Buildings on Thursday, May 30th for a tour, information session, and to watch an award-winning historical play entitled “Our Place in Politics”—more information to come next week.

In Language Arts, this week we have been tightening up grammar and word usage and moving on to how to correctly punctuate dialogue with quotation marks tomorrow.

As well, our new Spelling list is posted below and students were instructed to bring home their Spelling duo-tangs for further practice with the word worksheets assigned. Continuing our practice from before the break, I ask students to practice the word list in both printed and cursive form.

In Religion, we have continued to expand our Bible knowledge. We have been analyzing the lessons in Bible stories, including Noah’s Ark and Feeding the Five Thousand. We watched and discussed the dramatic interpretation of the latter story as well from “The Chosen” and have begun plans to do our own class retelling as well.

In Career Education, the focus this term is on guided independent inquiry in students’ areas of passion which may connect to their future career aspirations. All students are invited and supported to plan and carry out their own “Personal Interest Projects” (P.I.P.) on topics of their choosing. At the end of June, all students will practice their speaking and leadership skills by doing a short presentation for their class to share what they have been working on—some students may have completed finished products of learning to show (like a booklet of poems, an invention, a song, a graphic novel, a new board game, etc.), while others may simply share their progress (like “here is the first edited chapter of a novel I am writing about dragons”)

Before the break, students brought home a written plan of their project ideas after we did several planning sessions in class. This project can be done entirely in class time at school—yet a hope is that they will be so excited in their work that they will be motivated to expand their explorations at home. For a decade I taught a “Personal Interest Projects” course as extracurricular enrichment and I have made available to students my P.I.P. course video library in the form of a YouTube Playlist. For your reference, here are some of the videos we have discussed in class. They explain what a P.I.P. is, why they are helpful for students, and how to narrow a topic form an inquiry question and carry out independent research.

Hello, 5B families!

A major theme of term three is TIME TRAVEL!

Heading into Spring Break, today I planted a seed for students about the fun we will have in term three of Social Studies! To foster an historian mindset, I am asking students to imagine they have access to a time machine to go on field trips to times and places in the past. Students will research and develop their expertise in their chosen area and perform a time traveler’s report for the class. They will be encouraged to dress in either a “time traveller” costume or a costume relevant to their chosen time period (where possible and appropriate), and guidelines will be given for that to ensure sensitivity and respect.

This project will further develop students’ skills in research (evaluating the trustworthiness of sources, creating a bibliography, note taking, transforming notes into authentic texts), storytelling/public speaking, and acting for the stage or screen. Students will be responsible for curating 3-5 images/photos to share of the time/place they visit (digital or print), and they must properly credit the source of each image in their final presentation.

We will explore what it means to create an authentic work versus a plagiarized work, copyright issues, and fair use law. We will also discuss the concepts of bias and cultural appropriation with the goal of ensuring all presentations meet learning objectives and present perspectives grounded in evidence.

In early April, I will teach students the specific skills they need to succeed in this project in a step-by-step way and with modelling. Projects will be presented in the last two weeks of May.

Students who are eager to get started now can begin finding and making a list of books, magazines, websites, documentaries and other sources of information in their chosen historical time period.

Students should choose a time period that is a least 20 years in the past—so earlier than 2004. They should choose a time/place/event of historical significance. So while “my cousin’s birthday party” may have been a cool, memorable event in the past, we may need to challenge students to think in broader terms and grow as historians.

I am so excited to find out where our creative students will take us in term three!

On Tuesday, April 8th, students must be ready to name and commit to the time and place they have chosen to research for the remainder of the project.

The full project presentation due date is Thursday, May 30th, but there will be a series of of smaller deadlines of project components leading up to this date to ensure projects are well organized and developing on time.

Hello, 5B families!

We’ve had a lot of drama in our class lately! Students have been experimenting with handmade dioramas, puppets, props, costumes and a green screen as they retell and reenact many great Bible stories. They have been strengthening their creativity, confidence, and skills on the stage.

We have been discussing the powerful messages of each Bible story and thinking critically about how we can apply these Biblical lessons to our lives today.

Using iMovie, we superimpose some interesting backgrounds onto our green screen to further enhance the stories and inspire the imagination. Do you recognize the Biblical scenes below?

Students who would like to participate in our photographed and videoed Bible story reenactments yet not appear recognizable on the blog are invited to bring a beard/wig to class in term three. We are in need of students to play characters like Moses, Noah, Abraham, John the Baptist, etc. Participation is optional 🙂

As for costumes, I have a collection of “Biblical times” costumes students can use in class (basically just a bunch of clean, earth-toned bed sheets, pillowcases and scarves): however, feel free to have fun putting together your own era-appropriate costume to keep at school for the theatrical productions we will do in April and May. For ideas, you may want to watch the series called “The Chosen”—imagine you were going to be an actor in that series.

Friday, March 15th is
Green & Gold Civvies day! It is also a NOON DISMISSAL.

Reminder:
We have our Spelling test tomorrow too. Please bring in your signed permission form and $5 payment (or Etransfer) for the Swan Lake field trip.

Return to school after Spring Break on Wednesday, April 3rd.

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